Programme comparison for Primavera P6

Know what changed. Understand the impact.

Compare two Primavera P6 programme updates in your browser, see what moved, and trace how it reaches the finish date.

  • Reads P6 XER files
  • No account needed to compare
  • Calculated from programme logic, not AI-generated

Programme review

Update 1 vs Original

Synthetic example data
Data date
23 Feb → 02 Mar
Project finish
02 Oct → 09 Oct+7d
Activities
13 → 13No change
Critical
11 → 11No change
Near critical
1 → 1No change
Finish dates of selected activities in the Original programme and Update 1
IDActivityOriginal finishUpdate 1 finishMoved
A1010Site establishment13 Mar13 Mar0d
A1020Bulk excavation03 Apr10 Apr+7d
A1030Piling01 May08 May+7d
A1060Structural frame10 Jul17 Jul+7d
A1080Services rough-in24 Jul11 Aug+18d
A1100Testing and commissioning02 Oct09 Oct+7d
M1990Practical completion02 Oct09 Oct+7d
A1020 Bulk excavationREVIEW
Finish03 Apr → 10 Apr+7d
Remaining duration15d → 20d+5d

Driving path A1020 → A1030 → A1040 → A1050 → A1060 → A1070 → A1090 → A1100 → M1990

The Review tab for a synthetic programme and its first update, revised before work starts. Every value is produced by Planning Toolkit's own parser, CPM and Review engines (Monday to Friday calendar, no public holidays). Finish movement is in calendar days; durations are in working days.

How it works

From two XER files to a clear review

Both files are read and recalculated in your browser. Nothing is uploaded or saved.

  1. Open the Original XER

    Open a Primavera P6 XER in the Programme Workspace. Dates and float are recalculated from its logic, durations and calendars.

    In your browser · no account
  2. Compare with an update

    Choose the updated XER. Activities are matched by P6 task ID and activity code, and you see what matched, was added or removed before the comparison opens.

    In your browser · no account
  3. Review what moved

    Finish and start movement, remaining duration, float, criticality, logic, milestones and the project finish, grouped by activity with before and after values.

    In your browser · no account
  4. Explain and trace

    Explain Movement describes a change in plain language. Impact Trace follows it through the programme logic, preferring driving relationships.

    In your browser · no account

Sign in only to save a project and keep its revision history.

Example

One movement, explained

The same synthetic comparison, one activity at a time: what moved, the path it follows through the logic, and what it does to the finish date.

Explain movement · A1020

Bulk excavation moved 7 calendar days later, from 03 Apr to 10 Apr.

Remaining duration increased from 15 to 20 working days (+5 working days).

The recalculated movement continues through Piling, Pile caps and ground beams, Ground floor slab and Structural frame and other connected activities via finish-to-start (FS) relationships.

The primary evidence path contains 9 activities, with 2 additional connected branches with recalculated dates.

This explanation describes deterministic schedule movement and does not establish real-world causation.

Driving path Impact Trace · A1020 downstream

  1. A1020Bulk excavation03 Apr → 10 Apr+7d
  2. A1030Piling01 May → 08 May+7d
  3. A1040Pile caps and ground beams22 May → 29 May+7d
  4. A1050Ground floor slab05 Jun → 12 Jun+7d
  5. A1060Structural frame10 Jul → 17 Jul+7d
  6. A1070Roof and facade07 Aug → 14 Aug+7d
  7. A1090Internal fit-out18 Sep → 25 Sep+7d
  8. A1100Testing and commissioning02 Oct → 09 Oct+7d
  9. M1990Practical completion02 Oct → 09 Oct+7d

9 activities · 8 finish-to-start (FS) relationships, each driving its successor · finish movement in calendar days

Project effect

Project finish 02 Oct → 09 Oct +7d

Calculated project completion moved 7 calendar days later, from 02 Oct to 09 Oct (+7 calendar days). Bulk excavation is on the driving chain to calculated completion in the Planning Toolkit recalculation.

Synthetic example data, generated by Planning Toolkit's own engines. Explain Movement and Impact Trace describe linked movement through programme logic; they do not establish cause, responsibility or entitlement.

What Review checks

Every matched activity is compared between the two recalculated programmes.

  • Finish and start movement

    Recalculated start and finish dates, before and after, with the movement in calendar days.

  • Remaining duration

    Changes in remaining duration in working days. Completed activities count as zero.

  • Total float and criticality

    Total float before and after, and activities that become or stop being critical (float 0 or less) or near critical (more than 0, up to 10 working days).

  • Logic changes

    Predecessor relationships added, removed or changed in type or lag, and activities added or removed.

  • Milestones

    Milestones whose recalculated date moved, raised for attention.

  • Project finish

    The calculated project finish before and after, with activity, critical and near-critical counts.

Calculation basis

How this comparison is calculated

Read this before you rely on a result.

How dates are recalculated

  • Dates, float and criticality are recalculated by Planning Toolkit's own CPM from each file's planned start, not read from P6's scheduler, so they may differ from P6.
  • The Data Date, actual dates and constraints are not applied; remaining work is scheduled from logic, not the Data Date.
  • Completed activities keep their original duration and in-progress activities use their remaining duration where the file gives one, all scheduled from the planned start, so remaining work can appear before the Data Date and late progress does not push dates later.
  • Level-of-effort and WBS-summary activities are treated as ordinary activities.

Reading the results

  • For progressed updates, finish movement can understate slippage or show the wrong direction; check it in P6.
  • Critical means total float of 0 or less.
  • Finish movement is in calendar days, float in working days; durations and lags assume 8 hours a day.
  • Tested on synthetic programmes; real P6 exports vary.
  • This is not a delay analysis and does not establish cause, responsibility or entitlement.

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